Parenting Teens: Strong Base Is Key Start

Remember, teens rebel. They question. They explore. But by late teen years they often return to the moral base their family gave them.

That moral base is what we give kids in their first 12 years and continue into their teen years. How do we give them that base?

As kids grow, we battle them over many issues.

Let’s take a simple example; can they have a sleepover? Are the other parents aware? Will they be home? Who else will be there? Will there be enough chaperones?

That seems like a simple scenario. But as a parent, you know there are many scenarios like that one where we have to face our children and make decisions for them.

In all these battles and decisions, there are lessons. How much freedom do we allow? How much trust has our child earned? How much respect do we have for them? These questions are answered in our decisions. And kids learn to earn respect and trust over time.

Through these everyday decisions, our kids learn about right and wrong, and about what is safe and unsafe. This gives children a basic morality that serves as their base for entering the stormy teen years.